White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney (left), Deputy White House press secretary Hogan Gidley center and White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham wait for the arrival of President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump for a moment of silence honoring the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, on the South Lawn of the White House Wednesday in Washington. | AP

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump is denying the White House urged a federal agency to repudiate weather forecasters who contradicted his claim that Hurricane Dorian would hit Alabama.

Trump responded Wednesday after The New York Times reported that acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney told Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to have the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration publicly disavow the position that Alabama was not at risk.

Trump says “I never did that” and claimed the report was more “fake news.”

NOAA said in a statement Friday that National Weather Service forecasters in Birmingham, Alabama, “spoke in absolute terms that were inconsistent with probabilities from the best forecast products available at the time.” The head of the National Weather Service said the Alabama office was trying to protect the public.